Cardinal Tauran: Condemn Terrorism

Catholic World News: "Vatican greets Muslims, asks cooperation for peace"

As the Islamic observance of Ramadan comes to an end, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue has sent a message to the world's Muslims stressing the duty of all believers to bear witness to the Almighty.

In his message, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran says that all believers, regardless of their faith, should share in "work in favor of peace, by showing respect for the convictions of individuals and communities everywhere through freedom of religious practice. " Enlarging on that theme, he calls for "doing everything one can to reject, denounce and refuse every recourse to violence which can never be motivated by religion, since it wounds the very image of God in man."

Cardinal Tauran's message makes a special point of condemning terrorism, "which strikes blindly and claims countless innocent victims, is incapable of resolving conflicts and leads only to a deadly chain of destructive hatred, to the detriment of mankind and of societies." >>>

Politeia Supports Democracy in Burma

Now in the news:

- The Economist: "Myanmar's protests - On the brink - How Myanmar's people rose up against its regime—and the regime rose up against its people"

"There are reckoned to be 400,000 monks in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), about the same as the number of soldiers under the ruling junta's command. The soldiers have the guns. The monks have the public's support and, judging from the past fortnight's protests, the courage and determination to defy the regime.


But Myanmar's tragic recent history suggests that when an immovable junta meets unstoppable protests, much blood is spilled. In the last pro-democracy protests on this scale, in 1988, it took several rounds of massacres before the demonstrations finally subsided, leaving the regime as strong as ever. By September 27th, with a crackdown under way, and the first deaths from clashes with security forces, it seemed hard to imagine that things would be very different this time." >>>

Update: Blogger Jotman is live blogging the situation in Burma from Bangkok >>>

"The Irrawaddy reports: Burma’s Karen National Union has issued a call for all ethnic ceasefire groups to rise up against the Burmese regime in solidarity with the people of Rangoon and Mandalay." Keep checking it for the latest >>>